JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SWAT unit, along with animal control officers, raided an Eastside home to rescue multiple dogs from a suspected dog-fighting operation.
The raid happened on Wednesday at a home on Bennet Street. Multiple neighbors witnessed JSO throw a flash bang into the house and ordered everyone to leave.
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The JSO officers cleared the home and backyard before animal control went inside.
One neighbor told News4JAX that he heard an animal control officer tell someone that they found treadmills on the property.
The backyard was filled with dog cages and crates. There was also a burn barrel filled with unknown items and a water bowl.
Jim Crosby, a dog-fighting investigation expert, explained how these details could lead to a suspected dog-fighting ring.
“There’s something called the totality of circumstances, which means you add all the pieces of the puzzle, and when they come together, the only logical picture that you’ve made is that someone is participating in dogfighting,” Crosby said. It sounds like that’s the type of information they gathered to hit the place to begin with. And as you pile evidence on evidence, on evidence on evidence, you eventually build that picture.”
The owner of the dogs was not in custody. Neighbors said he was not at the home during the raid.
We reached out to Animal Control to confirm how many dogs were removed from the home, but we have not heard back yet.